Terms of reference

The following matter has been referred to the Economics References Committee for inquiry and report by 10 December 2024:

Australia’s taxation system, with particular reference to:

(a) the social and economic impact of taxing people who earn less than the cost of living;

(b) assumptions used by Treasury in modelling income tax cuts;

(c)the tax arbitrage between onshore and offshore profits that encourage domestic profits to be transferred offshore rather than retained in Australia;

(d)the tax arbitrage between onshore and offshore profits that puts companies domiciled in Australia at a competitive disadvantage to companies domiciled offshore;

(e)the abolition of numerous tax loopholes that favour special interest groups, in particular foreign interests;

(f)the actual net company tax rate after franking credits have been refunded;

(g)the cost of recycling franking credits to and from Canberra;

(h)whether capital gains tax concessions for passive investment cause a misallocation of capital into the non-productive economy which has to be offset by higher taxes on active income which drives down productivity and the velocity of money; and

(i)related matters.